


Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

by Maeve_of_Winter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Gen, Magic-Users, Moving, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 20:20:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15396636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_of_Winter/pseuds/Maeve_of_Winter
Summary: The McKeller family leaves Riverdale to resume a life with magic in Greendale, and Josie and Kevin must brew a potion together. Stepsib bonding, idea inspired by riverddaleau.





	Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the poem in Shakespeare's MacBeth.
> 
> Thanks to everyone reading! If you ever want to chat, here's my [Tumblr](http://maeve-of-winter.tumblr.com/). I love discussion and hearing people's thoughts, so feel free to submit ideas or just talk Riverdale.

Another fierce burst of wind whirled past him, and Kevin wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders, his teeth chattering audibly at the icy blast pressed his soaked clothing against his skin. Rivulets of remaining river water trickled out of his hair and down his spine, making him shiver all the harder. Spurred on by the frigid temperatures, he hurried across the front lawn, past the towering, ivy-covered trees and between the dual reflection pools featuring half-submerged dryad statues, moving as fast as he could up the wide entryway steps that were flanked by great granite phoenixes. It was with enormous relief that he reached the tall carved wooden doors of the massive Baroque manor and stepped inside.

He slammed the door emphatically shut behind him, intent on keeping out the chill, but he needn't have bothered. The house was built with enchanted stones harvested from the Isle of the Blessed and thus never allowed the cold through, not even in the wintertime. The entire estate had been given to Sierra as a gift from Queen Seles herself, in thanks for all her work in protecting the Magic Realm.

Rubbing his hands together for warmth, Kevin made his way to the east kitchen, which he and Josie had cleaned and organized until they’d had a workshop arranged for themselves. When he reached the room and walked inside, he couldn’t help but look around and admire the results of their hard work. Three of the walls were lined with implements for spells and ingredients for potions, all carefully catalogued and stored. The shelves on the far wall contained dozens of grimoires and spellbooks, and just beside it, beneath the room’s large arched windows, was a table with chairs and several squashy armchairs that were perfect to curl up in for a read. Various banners hung from the high ceiling, making it appear lower, and plush knit rugs were scattered throughout. The room was warm and welcoming and relaxed yet orderly, exactly as he thought a learning space should be.

There was also an immense stone fireplace where a heavy cauldron was constantly brewing some mixture or another, and running along the wall beside it was a stone counter that featured an assortment of vials and tubes for potions practice. Another counter, a scrubbed wooden one, sat just before the fire. At the moment, Kevin’s stepsister Josie stood there, grinding dried chamomile root to powder with her mortar and pestle.

She glanced up as Kevin strode into the room.

“Good God,” she said, quirking an eyebrow, her expression half-amused, half-disbelieving. “What happened to you?”

Kevin triumphantly raised the fist where he clutched several plant stalks. “I went down to the river to get the last ingredient we need for the potion. Anubias blossoms, harvested from underwater.” He presented them to Josie with pride. “Those mermaids down there weren’t too happy about me swimming invited into their territory, let me tell you.”

“Did you try the sunbeam burst spell?” Josie asked, retrieving a dry blanket from one of the armchairs and offering it to Kevin. “That’s worked well for me whenever I need to go into the deep part of the lake and have to fight them off along the way. Just a few blasts in their direction, and then they’ll leave you alone.”

“Thanks.” Kevin accepted the fresh blanket from Josie with a grateful smile, giving a sigh of contentment as the charmed fabric evaporated all of the moisture from every stitch of his clothes, leaving them dry and comfortable again. “No, my sunbeam spell is still pretty weak. I actually used the siren’s enchantment on myself and was able to lull them to sleep by singing.”

“That was awfully smart of you,” Josie remarked admiringly as she twisted off the head of one of the anubias plants and began neatly slicing the petals into slivers. “I’ll have to try that sometime. If it worked with your voice, I bet it would work with mine, too.”

“Mind you, I don’t think it would work with many other magical creatures,” Kevin cautioned her. “But mermaids need to have very sensitive hearing to hear anything underwater, so that’s probably why the spell turned out so effective.”

“Well, if all goes according to plan, we won’t need to using enchantments on many more of them,” Josie said, finishing with the cutting board and now carefully measuring out two tablespoons of petals into a small wooden bowl.

Kevin followed her as she carried the bowl over to the cauldron above the fire, a periwinkle blue liquid simmering gently inside. Stirring the ladle carefully back and forth, moving it clockwise and then counterclockwise, she added the petals, bringing the potion to change to a creamy vanilla color with streaks of marmalade orange. 

“It worked, Jo! Just in the book!” Kevin exclaimed, consulting the tome of potions recipes that had been laying open on the nearby table, a thrill zipping through him as he saw that the pictures matched. Their hours of feverish labor over the hot cauldron had paid off. “Congratulations! Our first batch of faerie nectar is complete!”

Faerie nectar, or “The Drink of the Gentry,” was the preferred refreshment of domestic faeries, and leaving an offering of it to them was a sign of respect and mutual understanding. Kevin and Josie had been occupied with brewing this particular batch for the past several days after finding telltale signs that several faeries had taken refuge within the warm estate to escape the harsh and unyielding winter. Knowing that it was wiser to have any resident faeries with them rather than against them, especially if they were bold enough to enter their home, the McCoy-Keller family had set about making them feel welcome by offering of the faeries’ favorites. They set out small teacups of heavy cream and thimbles of honey beneath coffee tables, and left bits of cake and lavender on saucers in shadowy corners. But the official symbol of a good host was the offer of faerie nectar, which Tom and Sierra had decided Kevin and Josie should prepare in order to practice their potions skills. 

“Well, it’s not officially complete until Mom and Tom check to make sure it’s all right,” Josie reminded him, closing the lid on the potion and transferring it from the fire to a waiting iron grate. “But if it is, I’m excited to see what happens. I’m almost certain we’ve got pixies in the greenhouse—a whole bunch of plants were dying, and now they’ve suddenly sprung to life again.”

“I think we may even have a cobbler elf or two in the front coatroom,” Kevin told her. “I swear that a few different pairs of shoes of mine have been resoled overnight after leaving them in there to dry.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Josie said brightly, plunking down a new cauldron in front of the fire. “A few pairs of my favorite heels are getting worn out. I’ll have to run down and put them in there once we finish.”

Kevin sent her an inquiring glance. “Aren’t we already done?”

“Not quite yet,” she explained. “Tom mentioned that he’s bringing home a hurt pegasus tonight. He told me to work with you to create a standard healing potion.”

Kevin’s father, Tom, often brought home wounded animals to nurse back to health. While Sierra had resumed her position as one of the chief advisors to Queen Seles, ruler of the Magic Realm, Tom had elected to become a protector and researcher of magical animals, making sure none where being poached or endangered.

“Another potion to brew, huh?” Kevin asked. “I guess a witch’s work is never done.”

Nevertheless, he shot Josie a smile and settled in to work alongside her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone reading! If you ever want to chat, here's my [Tumblr](http://maeve-of-winter.tumblr.com/). I love discussion and hearing people's thoughts, so feel free to submit ideas or just talk Riverdale.


End file.
